Outside the main tent of the Black Wolf mercenary camp, rows of soldiers stood lined up. Laughter and cheerful shouts filled the cold night air.
"Haha! Two years rotting on this damn battlefield, and our job is finally over!" a mercenary shouted while patting his friend’s shoulder. "I can’t wait to go back to the village, buy a rice field or farmland, and marry the girl of my dreams."
"You’re right, buddy. I almost went crazy from seeing nothing but blood and pieces of corpses every day. I need a warm woman by my side," his companion replied amid roaring laughter.
At the very back of the line, the atmosphere was completely different. A muscular, athletic man stood alone. His messy black hair framed his grim, cold face. He was Kael—a transmigrant who had been thrown into a medieval world with some Fantasy elements. Here, he had no one left. All of the teammates he had once been close to had died, chained in the mud of the battlefield.
Kael let out a heavy sigh, staring at the thin pouch hanging from his waist. "?? ???????? ???? ?????? ???????? ???????? ???? ???????????? ???? ?????????????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????????? ?????????????? ???????????? ???? ?????????? ?? ?????????? ??????????."
The line moved slowly until it was finally Kael’s turn to enter the command tent. Inside, Marcus, the leader of the Black Wolf mercenary group, was sitting down. The fat man was known for being arrogant, cunning, and the person Kael hated the most.
Marcus glanced at Kael with disgust before throwing a pouch of coins onto the table, producing a loud clinking sound.
"So you’re the last corpse left standing?" Marcus sneered. "Take your pay and get lost! You should have died in the trenches with those rebellious friends of yours!"
Kael was usually a calm person who was not easily provoked. However, insulting his fallen comrades, who had died while making Marcus rich, was the final limit of his patience.
"Your filthy mouth really was never taught any manners, huh, War Coward?"
Sring!
Before Marcus could even take a breath to shout, Kael’s sword had already slashed through the man’s neck. Fresh blood sprayed out, soaking the map table. Marcus collapsed without even having the chance to utter a single word.
Coldly, Kael wiped the blood from his hand with a rag, took his coin pouch, and walked out of the tent.
"Besides, I’m just a freelance mercenary who happened to be operating with this small group," Kael muttered quietly to himself. "Being hunted as a wanted criminal? That’s already an everyday occurrence."
Without arousing the suspicion of the other soldiers, Kael walked away into the darkness, leaving the Black Wolf headquarters behind.
Several days later, on a rocky road leading toward the nearest settlement, Kael came across a merchant caravan that had stopped. One of the horses pulling the carts appeared to have collapsed from illness, leaving the merchants struggling.
Seeing Kael’s worn-out armor and the greatsword at his waist, the merchant leader immediately approached him with a relieved expression.
"Excuse me, sir! Could you help us carry some of our cargo to the next village?"
Kael stopped and stared flatly at the middle-aged man. "Of course. But it’s not free."
"Hahaha, of course! We can arrange the payment!" the merchant said cheerfully.
Kael agreed. As he helped move the goods, his eyes accidentally fell upon an iron-barred cart at the back of the caravan. Inside, several female slaves sat wearing dirty clothes, their bodies thin and their eyes devoid of life. It was an ordinary sight in this harsh world.
The merchant riding a horse beside him noticed where Kael was looking. He smiled slyly. "Are you interested, sir? If you’d like to buy one, I can give you a special discount. They can be used as household servants... or simply to satisfy your desires at night."
"Hm? I’ll think about it later," Kael replied briefly.
However, throughout the journey, Kael’s eyes kept drifting toward one particular slave woman who stood out the most. She had long, dull white hair and very full breasts. Her face was covered in dust, but her eyes radiated a strange calmness.
Three days later, they arrived at their destination village. The merchant handed Kael his payment of 1 gold coin.
"Well, Sir Mercenary? Are you interested in buying one of my slaves?" the merchant offered again.
Kael looked at the row of slaves. At first, he wanted to choose the female slave who looked the youngest and cleanest. However, when the merchant mentioned that her price reached hundreds of gold coins, Kael immediately abandoned the idea.
"Why are they so expensive? Didn’t you say you were going to give me a discount?" Kael protested.
"Hahaha, forgive me, sir. The young and clean ones are high-quality stock for nobles. Even with a discount, there’s no way they could be cheap," the merchant explained with an awkward laugh.
Kael touched the money pouch at his waist. The total wealth he had from risking his life for two years amounted to only 50 gold coins. If he lived frugally, this money would be enough to live peacefully for three years.
But another thought crossed his mind. Throughout his life, Kael had never been involved with a woman. After years of living among the clashes of swords, he longed for the warmth of a home, for a wife who would wait for him to come home and cook for him. An ordinary village woman would surely be reluctant to marry a poor mercenary like him.
"?????? ???? ??????’?? ?? ??????????... ?? ?????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ?? ?????? ???????? ????????????????."
Seeing Kael hesitating, the merchant pointed toward the white-haired woman from earlier. "If you’re hesitating, you can buy the cheapest one. Only 50 gold coins! Even though she’s already in her forties, her face and physique are still very youthful. She’d be perfect for you."
The white-haired woman raised her face and looked at Kael with her cold yet calm gray eyes.
Kael frowned. "Can’t you lower the price? This is all the money I have."
The merchant pretended to let out a heavy sigh. "Very well, for your sake... 45 gold coins! This is my final offer!"
Reluctant to watch the earnings of his two years of hard work disappear just like that, Kael handed over 45 gold coins, leaving only 5 coins in his pouch.
The slave merchant immediately broke into a wide smile, one that concealed immense relief. He hurriedly opened the bars, pushed the white-haired woman outside, then locked them again.
"Please take her, sir! Well then, I’ll be off. Have a pleasant day!" the merchant shouted as he half-ran, directing his caravan away from Kael as though afraid Kael might change his mind.
"Very suspicious..." Kael muttered as he watched the merchant’s behavior.
Even so, Kael looked at the woman standing before him. Her beautiful body was covered by ragged cloth torn here and there. Without saying a word, Kael removed his thick cloak and draped it over the woman’s shoulders.
The white-haired woman was startled. Her body trembled slightly as Kael approached and scooped her up into a bridal carry.
"All right, let’s go. Since I don’t have much money left... we’ll have to build our own house in the forest," Kael said with a faint smile.
The woman stared at Kael from up close. In a slightly hoarse voice, she finally spoke, "Why did you still buy me? That merchant was obviously cheating you. My body is covered in permanent scars from torture... and I’m not young anymore."
Kael lowered his head and looked at her. "Why? Because I only want a wife and a family. Besides, aren’t I free to do whatever I want with my own slave?"
The woman fell silent. Her eyes widened in astonishment, not knowing how to respond to the absurd answer from the man before her.
"Do you have a name? Or should I give you a new one?" Kael asked as he continued walking.
"...Lizzy. My name is Lizzy."
"Lizzy, huh? That’s a beautiful name."
As her name was praised, a faint blush appeared on Lizzy’s dirty cheeks, though her eyes continued to radiate an air of mystery.
Kael took Lizzy deep into the lush riverside forest. Beneath the shade of the trees, Kael lowered Lizzy to the ground. He knelt before the woman, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple copper ring, the only keepsake he had ever kept.
"This has always been my dream, Lizzy..." Kael looked deeply into Lizzy’s eyes. "I’m just a poor mercenary. Would you marry me? Build a small family and live with me until death separates us?"
Lizzy froze. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand. Being suddenly proposed to in the middle of a forest by the man who had just bought her felt completely absurd.
"This is the first time... I’ve ever seen a slave treated like this," Lizzy said softly, staring at Kael strangely. "I’m merely your slave. You can do whatever you want to my body without needing to do something like this..."
Without answering her argument, Kael gently took Lizzy’s hand and slipped the copper ring onto her ring finger. Following the simple wedding ritual he knew from his original world, Kael leaned closer and gently kissed Lizzy on the lips.
As their lips met, a flash of hatred and something dangerous briefly crossed Lizzy’s eyes. However, she did not resist. That day, in the middle of the silent forest, they officially became husband and wife.
That night, Kael made a simple bed from a pile of dry leaves covered with cloth. He covered Lizzy, who immediately turned her back to him, clearly trying to avoid their "first night" together.
Kael did not force her. He sat on a log near the campfire, watching the flames dance.
"So this is what it’s like to have a wife?" Kael gazed at the star-filled night sky. A satisfied smile formed on his lips. "Not bad. This loneliness... has finally lessened."
He glanced at Lizzy, who was lying with her back toward him. "???????? ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ?? ?????????? ???????? ???? ??????????????... ?? ???????? ??????’?? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????????."
With his sword resting against his thigh, Kael closed his eyes and fell asleep in a sitting position, the vigilance of a war veteran never leaving him.
As Kael’s breathing became steady and he fell into a deep sleep, Lizzy’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Her pupils narrowed, appearing cold and empty. The warmth she had shown earlier vanished, replaced by a terrifying cruelty.
With a soundless movement like a ghost, Lizzy rose to her feet. Her hand reached for Kael’s greatsword, slowly drawing it from its sheath. Her face flushed from an insane rush of adrenaline. She pointed the sharp tip of the sword directly at Kael’s exposed neck.
"?? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???? ?????????????? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ???? ?? ??????????... ?????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ??????????????!" Lizzy thought with a sinister smile. "?????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????????? ????????????????! ??????, ???????????? ??????????!"
However, just as Lizzy was about to plunge the sword into Kael’s throat, her eyes accidentally caught the glint of the cheap copper ring wrapped around her ring finger.
Her hand stopped in midair.
Suddenly, a strange feeling spread through her chest. A warm, obsessive, and unnatural happiness struck her, a pleasurable feeling far greater than the satisfaction she had felt when slaughtering those wicked men in the past.
Lizzy’s breathing quickened, her cheeks becoming increasingly flushed. She slowly lowered the sword, then brought her face closer until only a few centimeters separated them.
"Husband and wife, huh...?" she whispered in a trembling voice filled with obsession. "For some reason... this makes me incredibly excited."
With a crazed smile filled with a deep sense of possessiveness, Lizzy leaned down and kissed Kael’s forehead as he slept soundly.
She then placed the sword back beside Kael and slowly walked back to her pile of dry leaves. Before closing her eyes, Lizzy glanced at Kael one more time with a sweet yet dangerous smile.
"Next time... I’ll definitely succeed in killing you... My Husband..."
And as Lizzy slept, Kael opened his eyes. Although he had fallen into a deep sleep for a moment, the instant he felt his sword being taken, he immediately woke up and, with his eyes closed, wanted to see what Lizzy would do.
"Her footsteps are far too well-trained for a slave. Who exactly are you, Lizzy...?"